hot pepper jelly candied walnuts

Lots of holiday parties this time of year. And while at these holiday parties do you ever find yourself sizing up the all the dishes and trying to figure out which one belongs to which person? Do you see the same old dishes year after year and think "jeez, did that person bring that crappy dish again?". Are you as bad as I am? And put a face to each and every dish and then wait to see which person comes over to the dish to 're-organize it', 'clean it up'? Well, yes I am guilty of that. But I'm also guilty of waiting to see who belongs to the fabulous dishes too. Dying to find out who it is and ask them why this, what made you think of that? Because that means there is another foodie at the party and a good "food" conversation will surely start.
So I made these candied walnuts with the hope in mind that a few people will bite into them and then a few seconds later a gentle expression of "oh, that's different", "what's in this?". I love that part. And of course I love to answer every single ingredient query. Do you?
What's the worst party themed dish you've seen?
What's the best?

These candied walnuts came about when that jar lone of peppered jelly was just sitting in the cupboard for a couple months. I did have plans to use it in a cheese/wine roll of some sort, but saw the walnuts and knew immediately what to do with it. I was hesitant at first because it doesn't make it completely candied/hardened but does lend a nice unique flavor. They are sticky but tasty.

hot pepper jelly candied walnuts
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¾ cup hot pepper jelly/jam
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 dashes of Tabasco sauce
2 cups walnuts (pecans would work well too)
1 egg white, room temperature

Cook notes: the nuts will be sticky after baking; they will not form a hard shell; sticky but very tasty. The pepper jelly is not that spicy at all--a gentle heat.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
In a bowl mix the hot pepper jelly with salt and Tabasco sauce. Set aside.

In separate bowl beat egg white frothy but not stiff. Add in the walnuts, and stir to coat evenly. Next add in the pepper jelly mix and toss until evenly coated.

Spread the nut mixture onto a parchment or silicone mat lined cookie sheet.
I gave them a light sprinkle of salt before baking, optional.
Bake for 30-40 minutes; halfway thru mixing up the nuts and/or rotate the pan. Check at the 30 minute mark for doneness.
You will know the nuts are done when they are slightly browned and the jelly coating is firmed up a bit.
Remove from oven. Nuts will be hot, so be careful touching them.
After they’ve cooled a bit, separate and break up any large clumps.

When completely cool, pour the nuts into a bowl, breaking up any that stick together.

PMS Christmas Bark: Part 1, 2, & 3

Jokingly on facebook I stated to my friends that years ago I created a Christmas bark that can easily be given as a gift and double as a PMS bark. The agreement was overwhelming by all my female friends; a bark made of salty, sweet, sticky, chewy and a hint of crispy--how could anyone, let alone a female disagree? I mean it covers all the four food groups that females tend to crave while going through PMS. Right?

Here is the PMS Christmas bark Part 1. Made of Cheez It's, chocolate Oreo's all nice and cozy warm in a base of thick white chocolate. Last year it's first appearance was resounding BUT this year people went crazy for it.



Part 2 was a whole other kind of creation made to satisfy those wanting milk chocolate instead of white chocolate.
So here is PMS Chrismtas Bark Part 2, or Cheez It Bark. Made with again Cheez It's with a hard caramel middle, covered in milk chocolate then a nice sprinkling of salty pecans.

And now we have a Part 3. The peanut butter and bacon chocolate bark. Bacon of course is a very important food group when creating a PMS bark? So why not.

Part 3 is very easy to make. Just roll out the dough onto a baking sheet. Originally this was done with cookies--my almost flourless peanut butter cookies with chocolate. This dough makes the perfect bark.



As soon as it comes out of the oven place cooked strips of bacon on the top. Gently pushing them in.



When the cookie layer has cooled then drizzle with bittersweet chocolate. You can use whatever chocolate you like; I found that bittersweet was just the right balance as the semi and milk chocolates were just too sweet and overpowered the bacon and peanut butter flavors. Can't have that can we?




peanut butter & bacon chocolate bark
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1 cup chunky or smooth peanut butter (natural peanut butter works best just not too oily)
¾ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
½ ts baking powder
1 ts baking soda
2 TB flour
1 ts sea salt

5-7 strips of cooked bacon, in strips or in small chunks
6-8 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips

Cook notes: this dough cooks very fast. It may not look like its done at the 10 or 11 minute mark but it is. Since there is almost no flour in there it cooks very fast. The next time I make this I will drizzle way less chocolate. In my opinion I put too much chocolate on there and it drowned out the peanut butter flavor. I highly doubt this freezes well. Natural peanut butter is best for this, just not one that's too oily.

In a small bowl mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a mixer or by hand, combine peanut butter and sugars until well combined.
Crack egg open in a small bowl and beat. Add egg to the cookie mixture, mix well.
Next sprinkle the flour mixture over the cookie dough, not just depositing it in one large dump. Mix till combined. Cover bowl and let it sit in fridge for about an hour or more.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place a parchment sheet on jelly roll pan. Place dough on sheet and spread it out. It will not spread out the whole size of the jelly roll pan only about halfway
If dough is sticky, just wet your finger tips.

Bake for 10-11 minutes, until very lightly browned. As soon as you remove it from the oven, place the strips of bacon on top and gently push down/in. Let cool at least 2 hours at room temperature.
When cooled drizzle with the melted bittersweet chocolate. Let chocolate harden and slice into squares.

Makes about 12-15 bars depending on how you cut them.



And finally the winner of the Nescafe Dolce Piccolo giveaway is Jen of Duluth, GA who was the lucky number 62. Please contact me Jen with your mailing address. Congrats Jen!

crunchy caramel bark

It's that time of year again where we all start making those delish homemade goodies to give away to friends, coworkers and family for the upcoming holiday.

Every year I get the same requests from the same people wanting my sweet & salty Cheez It bark. I beg them to let me give them something new and different and they always say NO. They explain to me that they patiently wait the entire year for that salty-sweet cheez it bark. OK, who can argue with that?

But this year, like every year I do like to try new things. With this turtle like bark, I've always wanted to take the famous "ghetto toffee" bark and put REAL CARAMEL inside of it. And boy sure glad I did. It gave it a rich, creamy inside--almost like a turtle candy. I did add a touch of salt to my homemade caramel so all the better.

Please don't get put off by the caramel making step, it's really not that hard and does not require a ton of time. You can easily make the caramel sauce a day ahead.

Trust me you will love this--it's really decadent and will be a present people will definitely remember you by. <----that's the best part isn't it? Yeah.

It's so easy to make, you'll see. First off make the caramel sauce, pour over a nice, even, all gaps covered, layer of Ritz crackers.

Put in fridge to set up/harden. Then put down a smooth layer of melted milk chocolate.

Let set up at room temp, then into to fridge to finish hardening.

Next we flip it over to give the other side a nice happy chocolate layer too.

(Once it's all harden it's very easy to flip over).

Don't forget to add the roasted pecans while the milk chocolate is still melted, this way the nuts will stick and stay.

Let harden in the fridge or room temp before cutting into squares. Use a sharp knife as it makes it a lot easier to slice right through the bark without all the caramel oozing out.

If you are curious about the infamous Cheez It Bark, click here

crunchy caramel bark
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caramel filling:
1/2 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1 & ½ TB light corn syrup
Giant pinch of sea salt, optional
1 cup heavy cream

In a sturdy/heavy medium size saucepan, over medium-high heat, heat up the water, corn syrup, sugar and salt. Stir a bit to make sure it’s combined-that's it no more stirring. You will cook this for at least 10 minutes (maybe longer) until it turns a nice golden brown. Once it starts to turn brown, do not leave the stove because it turns dark brown very fast. Swirl the pan, once or twice to confirm color is a nice golden brown, once it is, take off heat and add in the heavy cream. Let it bubble up and do its thing, then stir sauce with a heat proof spatula or whisk, and keep stirring till you get it combined and thickens a bit.
Put off to the side or in a heat-proof glass measuring cup (easy for pouring later) to let cool.
If all went well you should have a fairly thick, pourable caramel. Let this cool at least an hour before using.

bark:
2 sleeves of Ritz crackers (50 crackers? More or less)
1 cup of roasted pecans (I used roasted and salted pecans)
16 ounces of milk chocolate: melted in 2 batches; 8 ounces each (use a good quality chocolate, they melt better)

Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Lay down an even layer of Ritz crackers; add more crackers to cover up any gaps. All gaps need to be covered as the caramel will ooze out.
Take the cooled caramel and pour over the crackers. You probably won’t use all the caramel; I didn’t, so save the remainder for another use.
Place pan in fridge to chill and set up for at least 2 hours.
When set up melt about 8 ounces of chocolate in a double boiler, spread the chocolate over the cracker and caramel. Let cool and harden at room temp for about 20 minutes then into fridge for an hour.
Take out of fridge, and being careful, flip the mixture over exposing the other side. This side will now get covered in chocolate.
Melt the remaining milk chocolate, spread over the bark and then sprinkle on the roasted pecans. Push the pecans down into the chocolate a bit to make sure they stay.
Let this harden for at least a couple hours before slicing. Use a sharp knife to cut this so the caramel doesn’t ooze out.

cake filled peanut butter cups

Wouldn't this be a fabulous gift for the upcoming holidays? Imagine the look on their faces when they bite into one of these? Priceless. They'd say "oh my gosh there's cake inside my peanut butter cup!" That's reason enough to make them.
I mean who doesn't love a little cake with their peanut butter? And why not throw them into a nice cute little milk chocolate cup?
Ever since I made my first homemade peanut butter cup way back in 2009 I've always had it in the back of my mind to kick them up a notch, somehow, someway. Finally I thought of putting cake inside when all this cake ball madness came about from Bakerella.
I hope some of you make these, they are a lot of fun. Enjoy!






cake filled peanut butter cups
recipe by vanillasugarblog.com
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Cook notes:
I only made 12 (regular size muffin tins) with this. You could go ahead and make a lot more, but I only wanted 12. The rest of the cake batter I used them for cake pops.
One could make these cups smaller, like mini’s, but it might be hard as you have to put a layer of cake batter in there and a layer of pb filling—you need the room that a regular sized muffin tin has.
I used milk chocolate for this, you could try dark; I don’t know how that would taste.
I used devils food cake for this as I wanted something that would go nice with peanut butter. But feel free to experiment and use any type of cake filling you desire.

Cake filling:
1 box devil food cake mix
1 can cream cheese frosting

Peanut butter filling:
1 cup of plain or crunchy peanut butter (use a pb that is not runny or too oily)
2 TB confectioners sugar
3 TB of crushed graham crackers, finely crushed

Milk chocolate cups:
About 2-3 cups of melted milk chocolate
Pastry brush

Bake cake according to directions on box. Let cool, then crumble cake into large bowl or use a food processor to crumble. Then mix the cake crumbles with the can of cream cheese frosting. Mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and let chill for an hour.
Line a regular muffin pan with cupcake liners.
Melt the milk chocolate over a double boiler. It’s best to use this so this way we can go back and reheat what we need in steps. Take pastry brush and gently line the bottoms and sides of the cupcake liners with melted milk chocolate; do this a couple times as we want a nice thick bottom and sides to hold all the stuffing inside. Let the chocolate harden in the fridge or on the counter.
Make the peanut butter filling by combining the peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar and crushed graham crackers. Mix well, cover and store in fridge.
Take your chilled cake batter and scoop out “almost golf ball” size and place into hardened chocolate cups; flatten just a bit. Make sure to leave room around the edges for pouring chocolate. Then take your chilled peanut butter filling and make a smaller ball than that of the cake batter and place on top of the cake batter. Once you’ve done all the cups, let this sit in the fridge to harden up a bit.
Go back to your chocolate over the double boiler and melt chocolate again. With a spoon, take the melted chocolate and filled the sides and tops of the peanut butter making sure to cover everything in chocolate and giving the cup an overall good seal.
You can either let these harden on the counter or if you can’t wait the fridge.

spicy pecan cocada

Literally cocada is the ultimate in coconut bark. It's a Mexican/Latin America candy/cookie that is bark-like--just like what I've made. It's very sweet, very coco-nutty, and I've always wanted to add a nut to it for texture and crunch. I've also wanted to add a tiny bit of heat to it as well, hence the spicy pecan. It is an oven baked goodie that is supposed to be served at room temp for chewy texture. And yes, it is very chewy, almost caramel like texture. If you have any loose teeth or fillings, think twice on chomping down on this one. The bark is a bit difficult to cut, you need a sharp, wet knife. The edges of the cocada are the best part; they get the most caramelization of the condensed milk paired with the coconut. Add in's are endless on this one--whatever would work with caramel flavor and coconut really.



spicy-pecan cocada
adapted from http://scarlettabakes.com/cocada-simple-coconut-bark/
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2-14 oz. cans sweetened, condensed milk (approximately 3 1/2 cups)
1-14 oz. bag of sweetened, flaked coconut (approximately 5 1/2 cups)
1/2 c. light corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
5-7 oz of spicy, toasted pecans (optional but amazing)

Preheat oven to 350°.
Line an 11” x 17” baking sheet with parchment paper. This is a very sticky candy/bark; non stick spray will NOT work—use parchment paper. Make sure to completely cover the baking sheet.
In a large mixing bowl, stir the condensed milk, corn syrup and vanilla together until well-blended. Fold in the coconut and spicy pecans. Mix well.
Spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet.
Using a rubber scraper or wet fingers, push the mixture evenly across and into the corners of the pan. Bake for 25-28 minutes. Don’t let it burn. Check the cocada at the 25 minute mark.
The cocada will bubble as it bakes and turn a deep golden brown, with the edges becoming especially dark – it is done baking when the top appears golden throughout.
Allow the cocada to cool at room temp for a couple hours. Then I put it in the fridge to harden a bit before slicing.
Using a sharp, wet knife, slice the cocada into squares, carefully remove each piece from the parchment lining, and enjoy straight away or store in an airtight container.

chocolate covered strawberries

Isn't this the best spring/summer treat? I mean besides fried clams, greasy hamburgers, and ice cream? OK, they're all the best really. Who doesn't love a good chocolate covered strawberry? And with spring here that means the jumbo sized strawberries are in abundance! They are truly perfect for dipping in chocolate. Every year I dip strawberries in high quality dark chocolate and then have one or four with ice cold champagne. What a good combo!
I prefer mine in a dark chocolate. You? Pineapple is also good dipped in chocolate. Marshmallows too, apples, pears, grapes (the dark ones are really good), blueberries are hard to dip, I just get all kinds of messy trying to fish out my blueberries--not a good scene.

And how cute is this one?

homemade crunchy peanut butter eggs

This idea came about one sleepless night when I woke up at 2am, turned on my iphone, wrote down in my 'to make recipes': a really good crispy pb egg for Easter.

 Knowing I was going to use the same theory/recipe I used when I made the chocolate-pb cups, AND I wanted to factor in a more powerful crunch than what I originally used in the cups. So after much mulling I thought why not panko crumbs? Panko crumbs have a wonderful crunch and texture, plus it holds up very well to moisture. After much experimentation I think I nailed the filling just right. Taste-testing the filling as I went along I just knew these were going to be stellar. And let me tell you, they are fabulous. Very rich, decadent and perfect for upcoming Easter treats.
I'm pretty sure I nailed the pb filling down pat. Crispy, crunchy, not too sweet, with just a hint of salt. I was going to try a couple eggs dipped in the white chocolate but clear forgot.




Can I just say the middle filling is to die for good...again?
You have to make these......go...now!

chocolate peanut butter eggs w/ crunchy filling
from vanillasugarblog.com
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cook notes: 
I used Whole Foods brand organic crunchy pb (it's taste is just perfect), make sure to use plain panko crumbs, use a good quality milk chocolate since you want a good taste and one that will be easy to temper. Always do a taste test and make sure you like the filling before shaping them. If they get to have large chocolate spillage bottoms, don't worry, let them harden up and you can trim them with a sharp knife.

12 oz high quality milk chocolate
1 ½ cups crunchy peanut butter (I used whole foods brand organic crunchy)
2 TB confectioners’ sugar (if you want it sweeter add more)
¼ to ½ cup plain panko crumbs (add as much or as little as you like depending on level of crunch you want)
Giant pinch of sea salt

In a bowl, mix together the peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, salt, and panko crumbs. Do a taste test. See if it’s sweet enough for you or needs more salt. Cover bowl very well so no air gets in and place in fridge to harden up (at least a few hours or overnight).
Form dough into oval shapes (or whatever shape you want), place on parchment lined tray and chill again.
While the eggs are chilling get the chocolate melted and ready for dipping.
In a double boiler, carefully melt the chocolate (set a metal bowl on top of a saucepan with boiling water).
When you are ready to dip the eggs in the chocolate use a fork to place them in the melted chocolate, turn them over, coating all sides of the egg and then place back onto the parchment paper to set. It’s ok if you get chocolate drips or lines on the sides of the eggs; once they are hard you can just trim the edges off with a sharp knife.
I let mine harden at room temp. If it’s warm out you might want to place them in the fridge to harden..
Once the chocolate is set and hard, take a sharp knife and trim off the chocolate drippings or lines on the bottoms of the eggs, if desired. This just give it a nice look.
Makes about 12 eggs, depending on how you shape them.

chocolate pistachio fudge (my way)

Do you like fudge? I don't, really. I find it too sweet. Those fudge shops that you see in the malls and outlets, I cringe when I get near one because of that overwhelming smell of corn syrup. It's just so strong for my nosebuds. And here comes the second part: I do like a lighter fudge, a less sweeter fudge. Let me explain. For me, I think the whole purpose of a good fudge should be a good balance of butter (yes butter), sugar, vanilla (or chocolate or whatever flavor you are making), cream, and some sort of texture. I firmly believe fudge should always have some texture, if not then it's just a block of sugar. Ick. So, with all that said I think I have found a "lighter" version of fudge with a buttery, milky taste; not over-powered by sugar. The consistency is NOT creamy like standard fudge, but more flaky/airy which is perfect for the melting-in-your-mouth factor. Rest assured once you taste it you won't really care that the texture is different because this fudge literally melts away in your mouth. (that was the best part after all this experimenting).
So where do you stand on fudge? Love it hate it? You might want to give this a go if you are on the fence--this might change your mind about all that corn-syrupy fudges. I can tell you this does NOT taste like a block of soft, chocolate sugar. I think you'll love this kind of fudge.

Note: I did NOT get this recipe off a Hershey's can; it's a bit different than that one. I played around with my molasses-peanut chew recipe and came up with this fudge recipe.

chocolate-pistachio fudge
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5 TB salted butter
1 TB butter to grease ceramic/glass dish
5 and ½ ounces high quality semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup cream
1 & ½ cup white sugar
1 ts high quality vanilla extract
Giant pinch of sea salt
1 or 1 ½ cup of salted, roasted pistachios (use as much or as little as you desire)

Remember this is hot sugar, never touch the hot sugar, never be tempted to taste test, and always use oven mits.
Butter an 8-by-8-inch or 8 x 9 baking dish, set aside. Get out a candy thermometer and clip onto pot.
In a large heavy duty pot (with high sides preferably) combine the butter, chocolate, cream, sugar, and salt. Place over a medium heat and stir constantly and CONSTANTLY scraping the bottom of pan. (You will be doing this for a while). Let it boil and cook until the temperature reaches around 247 -249 (soft ball stage). Once it hits this temperature remove from heat
And add in the vanilla extract (it will make a lot of noise and sizzle, just add in and stand back then stir in)
Once mixed, add in the pistachios, stir, then pour the hot mixture into your prepared buttered baking dish.
Let cool off at room temperature. Should take a couple hours to harden up.
Gently lift it out of baking dish and transfer to a wooden board or plastic cutting board. It might be hard to lift out, I just turned the dish upside down and let gravity pop it out.
Using a sharp knife to cut into little squares. You should get about 20-25 little squares?

midori cake pops

Do you like my cake pop french man in the middle with his white chocolate beret? I kind of dig him. He has great eyebrows don't you think? No one has eaten him--I don't want to lose him, I like him, kind of like Tom Hanks loved his volleyball turned best friend in the movie "Cast Away". I tried making a surfer dude with gnarly hair using the coconut (behind french man), but it didn't work so well.

Cake pops are literally sweeping the nation. I've even seen them in Starbucks! Is there a "cake pops for dummies" book out yet? Was it really Bakerella that invented them? I've been meaning to make them for a long time, but got lazy because they are labor intensive! Hard lil critters to make. To be clear, cake pops are labor intensive, the cake balls not so much. With the balls there is no stick to fiddle with or drying upright to keep a smooth complexion.

I didn't want to make just any cake pop, I wanted flavor-- funky flavor that would stand out and pair well with the chocolate dipping melts. Dipping melts don't taste like pure chocolate, and if you have a chocolate palate like I do then dipping melts are a very different flavor. Although I do see why they are used for these cake pops, they dry fast and have a harder, tougher coating than regular chocolate.
When my friend Anna over at cookie madness made (long long time ago) a midori cake, I kept that in the back of my mind to use for a cake of my own.

If you do make these midori cake pops I HIGHLY recommend dipping them in coconut. I should have toasted the coconut first--it would have tasted amazing.

Food Hindsight is always 20/20!

**cooking notes: if you are making cake pops (not balls) please make sure to invest in a large Styrofoam board for placing the cake pops on for drying. I did not. And should have. Read the recipe instructions below carefully as you will be swapping out water and replacing it with midori liquor. I thought the color of the cake pops would be green they are not. If you want them green to represent the midori flavoring then add in a couple drops of green dye to the cake batter before cooking. I used Wiltons candy melts, pens, sticks, bags, etc....The midori flavor is very gentle, not strong at all. I kind of like it that way, so it worked out perfectly. If you did want a stronger midori flavor maybe you could add some to the melted candy melts? But don't know how they would dry/set up. I dipped all my cake pops in a layer of pink candy melts, from there i either added on a 2nd layer of different color candy melts or went the coconut/sprinkle route. Do what whatever creativity you feel. Most of all have fun. If you want a better tutorial than mine (I know mine isn't the best) head over to Bakerella, she is the queen of cake pops after all.

midori cake pops
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1 box cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
**for midori balls (melon flavor): reduce the amount of water you add when making the cake batter by ½ cup and add in it’s place 2 nips of Midori liquor (1/2 cup)**
1 can frosting (16 oz.)
Wax paper
Assorted candy melts
lollipop sticks
sprinkles
shredded or toasted coconut
edible ink pens (optional)

Cook cake as per directions in a 13 x 9 pan. Cool, then crumble with your hands, mix in the frosting and mix well. I did NOT use the whole can of frosting; there was maybe 2 TB left. But use your own judgment.
Get you baking sheet with wax paper ready. Take the mixture and roll into small golfballs. You should get about 40-50?
Melt just a little bit of chocolate in a cup or bowl as we are going to dip the sticks in the chocolate to hold the pops in place. Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in a little of the melted candy coating and insert into the cake balls. (Insert a little less than halfway.). Place back on wax covered sheet and into the freezer for a little while to firm up

Ready to dip:
melt chocolate color of your choice in ceramic coffee cups (or bowls) in the microwave per directions on package. I did one minute intervals with a quick stir. (it was easier to use ceramic coffee cups as they are easier for dipping). Get your Styrofoam blocks ready.
Gently dip the cake pops in the chocolate with a rolling method, lift up and continue rolling to get off excess and get a smooth coating. Now if you want to want to add sprinkles and/or coconut to a certain number of pops do it now, then back into fridge for cooling.
Once firm, you can either add another layer of chocolate dip for color/decoration. If you do then back into the freezer to firm up again.
Once dry, draw faces with an edible ink pen.

almond joy bites w/ cookie crust

So you've heard this story before....love those almond joys BUT they need to be 'kicked up'. Me and my endless task(s) of making candies, cookies, cakes, muffins, etc... better is a never ending journey people. But have no fear I will prevail and continue on--just for you. :-)
This was on the 'to create' list for some time now: "kick up the infamous almond joy". I can now cross that off the list. Need I say these are just fabulous? They are. They are also very very rich. And I must warn you a little hard to handle; the crumbles fall apart in this shape. So if you were to make these, consider doing so in a tart pan instead. It'll work a lot easier for handling.

**Side note: a lot of you have asked why the copyright stamp on all the photos? It ruins the photos to see wording on there. I agree! But I have so much photo theft that I have to put it on there. I wish people would make their own photos and stop using mine, but that doesn't happen. So sadly I have to put these watermarks on there. I hate it too, trust me.
A wonderful friend of mine Deb from tasteandtellblog.com did a fun little interview on me and my blog. Come check it out here.

almond joy bites with cookie crust
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Filling:
9-10 ounces sweetened coconut
14 ounces of condensed milk

Cookie crust:
10 ounce pack of Lorna Doone cookies (or any other thick butter shortbread cookie is fine), crushed fine
1 stick of butter, melted
Pinch of salt

Coating:
High quality dark chocolate

Garnish:
Smokey/salty almonds

Combine coconut with condensed milk until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and set in fridge.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter and in a bowl combine it with the crushed cookies and salt. Mix well and pour into greased muffin cups or tart pan (with removable bottom).
Bake the crust for about 10 – 15 minutes or until set. Don’t let it brown! Let cool completely.
When cooled fill cups with a nice size scoop of the coconut mixture; making sure to NOT let the mixture touch the sides of the pan. We want the chocolate to drip down the sides (see photo). Cover muffin pan with parchment paper and let set up in fridge for at least a couple hours.
Melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler. Remove coconut bites from muffin pan, and set on wire rack to pour chocolate over. Or you could leave them in the cups and pour chocolate into cups. They should release out fine (I don’t know as I used the wire racks to cover in chocolate). Top with smokey almonds. Let set before devouring.

Notes: you could use a tart pan instead of muffin cups. Make sure to grease your pans well. I don’t know if milk chocolate would work in this. And remember the cookie crust is delicate, so use the coconut as your base when ready to drizzle with chocolate.

chocolate-peanut butter bars w/ bbq pretzels

Girl have you lost your mind?
No I haven't lost my mind...yet.
Yes, I have cabin fever; a bad case of it actually. And yes, these taste friggin amazing.
Does it sound gross? Of course it does! If it didn't then why on earth would I make it?
I used those Snyder-that-can-crack-your-teeth-pretzels. Hubby asked me to buy them for him, I did, they sat there for a couple days. Afraid I would eat them in one sitting during one of our many thousand snowstorms we've had already, I went ahead and used them so I wouldn't eat them, but then ate them anyways because they are in another form now. Makes sense right?

This recipe sounds gross and all, but in all honesty its not. You don't taste the bbq.
What you taste is the twang of the pretzels that pairs very well with the pb and chocolate. I think you could use any pretzel you like, but I doubt ranch flavored would work well.
I did NOT write this recipe down, but I think I remembered everything as I happily went along.
With that said, PLEASE taste-test as you go along just in case I did forget something.

chocolate-pb bars w/ bbq pretzels
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¼ cup light brown sugar {packed}
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1 and ¾ cups creamy peanut butter
A pinch of salt
A handful of salted cocktail peanuts to add into batter, optional
10 ounces high quality milk chocolate chips PLUS ¼ cup, divided
8 ounces high quality bittersweet chocolate chips
About 2 – 3 TB of butter for melting chocolates

For pretzels:
About 2 - 3 cups crushed Snyders BBQ pretzels, loosely crushed we want semi-big chunks (I cannot remember if it was 2 or 3 cups, sorry)
About ½ stick or ¼ cup of butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease up an 8 by 8 inch brownie pan (I used non stick spray). Melt the other half stick of butter for the pretzels in a pan. In a bowl mix the melted butter and pretzels. Press them evenly into the prepared brownie pan. Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until set. Do NOT let this brown!
Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle on the ¼ cup of milk chocolates; let them melt on their own then take a spatula and spread as evenly as you can without moving the pretzels. Let cool and harden.
Combine the brown sugar, confectioners' sugar, 1/2 room temp butter, peanut butter, and pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Blend until smooth. If you want to add in cocktail peanuts, this would be the time.
Dump the mixture out into the cooled pan & press it down, making it an even as possible.
Melt the chocolates & 2 TB of butter in a double boiler, or in a heat-proof bowl set over simmering water. Stir occasionally to combine and get nice and glossy.
Spread the melted chocolate over the peanut butter base & smooth out the surface. I like to let my pan sit at room temp for about an hour, then put in fridge to finish hardening. Once chocolate is set. Simply run a slim/skinny knife around edges to loosen. Invert the pan onto large plate/platter. You can either serve this pretzel side up or down.
You will need a very sharp knife to cut through the hard chocolate. Be careful.